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A Dozen Tips On How To Live A Deeper And More Meaningful Life

Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.
~ Henry David Thoreau

I absolutely want to avoid going to the grave with the song still in me. I guess that’s why I’ve dedicated this blog to ideas for helping people, including myself, live life to the fullest. I want to be totally used up knowing that I gave living my all. Therefore, I am always on the lookout for new ways to live a deeper and more meaningful life. Today I am offering several ideas for getting started in the right direction. You are sure to find something below that will enrich your life!

1. Seek to continually improve

I read books and blogs continuously looking for new ways to improve myself and the life I am living. We can never become complacent. Life always has more to offer and the only thing holding us back from getting it is our own thinking. We can completely change our lives by changing our thinking. We need to constantly look for ways to improve ourselves and our habits. This will help ensure we get the most out of our lives.

2. Take responsibility for individual actions.

It is impossible to improve if you do not accept that you alone are responsible for your station in life. No matter what your circumstances, you choose your response to what comes your way. By accepting this and deciding to live the very best life possible, regardless of external influences, you are making a giant leap toward a fantastic life.

3. Live a life of integrity.

Awhile back, I wrote about how doing the right thing is a cornerstone of the good life. So much of what we accomplish in life is centered around how well we build relationships. If you don’t live with integrity, then chances are your relationships will not stand the test of time. There is no way around it. The truth almost always comes to light and if you are being deceitful, then there will be consequences to pay.

4. Achieve Freedom from debt.

When we owe other people money, we become a partial slave to them. A portion of our effort goes toward paying them back. Our choices in life are reduced because we have a commitment to repay the debt. We become tied to it. Are you really free or are you a slave? Freedom is the path to a good life. I recently paid off all my debt except for my mortgage. It feels good to be free!

5. Give to good causes.

A part of living a meaningful life is taking action to make the world a better place. This may be in the form of giving your time or money. We have to invest our lives in worthwhile causes to have a sense of purpose. Do you feel the way you spend the majority of your time benefits others? If not, look for ways to start investing in a good cause.

6. Explore your spiritual side.

Many of us find the true meaning of life in our spiritual beliefs. What do you believe? Have you spent enough time exploring this part of yourself? If you live in the United States, you should not take your religious freedoms for granted. I am very grateful that I have the opportunity to worship as I see fit. This adds a tremendous value to my life.

7. Raise a family.

I think that most parents would agree with me that raising children is one of the most rewarding things they’ve ever done. Raising a family is hard, but most things in life worth doing are a little tough. Of course, the rewards far outweigh the work. Seeing the world again through the eyes of a child is invaluable to restoring your perspective. No one should go through life without experiencing parenthood. The love you get from kids will make your heart sing!

8. Take time to reflect.

It is important to occasionally take an inventory of your life. Ask yourself, are you doing what it takes to get ahead in life? Answer these questions honestly. No one else has to know, but if you can’t be honest with yourself about areas for improvement, then you will remain stuck where you are at. Our world is so noisy and busy that we often neglect quiet times of reflection.

9. Be humble.

Nobody likes a snob or a meanie. As I mentioned above, good relationships are very important to living a meaningful life. To build more relationships, you need to have a humble and open heart. If this is an area where you have struggled, then you may need to apologize to repair some past mistakes. This takes humility, but once you have done it, you will feel like a rock has been lifted from your chest.

11. Find someone to make you laugh.

Laughter really is some of the best medicine. If you reflect on some of the best times of your life to this point, you will probably remember times when you did a lot of laughing. This may be why so many singles are looking for mates with a good sense of humor. They instinctively know that a lot of good laughs will add meaning to their lives.

12. Express your creativity.

As humans, we were born to create. Just look around you for a moment and you will see hundreds of products of the human mind. Unless they are a part of nature, the things that surround you were conceived from the imagination of man. This process of dreaming things up and then creating them is very satisfying. If you have trouble in this arena, you may want to look at some ways to rekindle your creativity.

Adding depth and meaning to your life is possible!

These twelve tips should get you started down the road to a deeper and more meaningful life. There will be lots of twists and turns along the way, but you have to start somewhere. I would suggest concentrating on one suggestion above for now and then revisiting this list from time-to-time to see where else you can benefit.

What are you going to do to start living a deeper and more meaningful life?

18 thoughts on “A Dozen Tips On How To Live A Deeper And More Meaningful Life”

Great list Jeff. I would echo your sentiments and add one: Regret for the things we have done can be tempered with time, but regret for those things we did not do is inconsolable. Don’t go to your grave wishing you had done something. Get out there and do it (actually this is your #10).

Great list! I also think we can learn Randy Pausch from The Last Lecture. Before he passed on, he did much by impacting the world through sharing his insights. He inspired us all in what he firmly believed in: achieving dreams. He was a great example of having led a meaningful life.

Great blog, glad I found you, what a powerful list, I especially liked # six, it is so important to have a list of things you are grateful for because when things get rough you tend to forget the good things in your life.

It’s interesting that raising a family helped me with many of the other things on your list, especially creativity, adventure and laughter. And best of all, no matter how important I’ve become in my own eyes or those of the world,my kids and grandkids keep me humble.

You have done a great job with this post. It is one to tuck away and read over and over again. All of these ideas are helpful but we get so busy in life that we often forget that these simple things make all the difference to how we feel.